Career and Education Opportunities for Title Examiners in Madison, Wisconsin

Title examiners can find many career and educational opportunities in the Madison, Wisconsin area. About 1,230 people are currently employed as title examiners in Wisconsin. By 2016, this is expected to shrink 2% to about 1,200 people employed. This is not quite as good as the nation as a whole, where employment opportunities for title examiners are expected to shrink by about 0.7%. In general, title examiners search real estate records, examine titles, or summarize pertinent legal or insurance details for a variety of purposes.

Title examiners earn about $16 per hour or $34,390 yearly on average in Wisconsin and about $18 hourly or $38,300 annually on average nationally. Title examiners earn less than people working in the category of Administration and Support generally in Wisconsin and less than people in the Administration and Support category nationally. Title examiners work in a variety of jobs, including: title checker, title department manager, and title searcher.

The Madison area is home to thirteen schools of higher education, including two within twenty-five miles of Madison where you can get a degree as a title examiner. Given that the most common education level for title examiners is a high school diploma or GED, it will take only a short time to learn to be a title examiner if you already have a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Title Examiner

Title Examiner video from the State of New Jersey Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development

In general, title examiners search real estate records, examine titles, or summarize pertinent legal or insurance details for a variety of purposes. They also may compile lists of mortgages, contracts, and other instruments pertaining to titles by searching public and private records for law firms, real estate agencies, or title insurance companies.

Title examiners examine documentation such as mortgages and agreements in order to confirm factors such as properties' legal descriptions or restrictions. They also copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages and contracts, that affect property titles. Equally important, title examiners have to read search requests so as to ascertain types of title evidence required and to obtain descriptions of properties and names of involved parties. They are often called upon to ready reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching efforts, and outlining actions needed to clear titles. They are expected to obtain maps or drawings delineating properties from company title plants and/or assessors' offices. Finally, title examiners enter into recordkeeping systems appropriate data needed to generate new title records or update existing ones.

Every day, title examiners are expected to be able to read and understand documents and reports. They need to articulate ideas and problems.

It is important for title examiners to verify accuracy and completeness of land-related documents accepted for registration; ready rejection notices when documents are not acceptable. They are often called upon to direct efforts of staff who search records and examine titles, assigning and evaluating work, and providing technical guidance as needed. They also summarize pertinent legal or insurance details, or sections of statutes or case law from reference books so that they can be used in examinations, or as proofs or ready reference. They are sometimes expected to retrieve and examine real estate closing files for accuracy and to insure that data included is recorded and executed in line with regulations. Somewhat less frequently, title examiners are also expected to assess fees pertaining to registration of property-related documents.

Title examiners sometimes are asked to ready and issue title commitments and title insurance policies on the basis of data compiled from title searches. They also have to be able to ready real estate closing statements, utilizing knowledge and expertise in real estate procedures And finally, they sometimes have to decide on whether land-related documents can be registered under the relevant legislation such as the Land Titles Act.

Like many other jobs, title examiners must be thorough and dependable and be reliable.

Similar jobs with educational opportunities in Madison include:

Administrative Law Judge. Conduct hearings to decide or recommend decisions on claims concerning government programs or other government-related matters and prepare decisions. Determine penalties or the existence and the amount of liability, or recommend the acceptance or rejection of claims, or compromise settlements.

Arbitrator. Facilitate negotiation and conflict resolution through dialogue. Resolve conflicts outside of the court system by mutual consent of parties involved.

Court Reporter. Use verbatim methods and equipment to capture, store, and transcribe pretrial and trial proceedings or other information. Includes stenocaptioners who operate computerized stenographic captioning equipment to provide captions of live or prerecorded broadcasts for hearing-impaired viewers.

Judge. Arbitrate, advise, or administer justice in a court of law. May sentence defendant in criminal cases according to government statutes. May determine liability of defendant in civil cases. May issue marriage licenses and perform wedding ceremonies.

Legal Assistant. Assist lawyers by researching legal precedent, investigating facts, or preparing legal documents. Conduct research to support a legal proceeding, to formulate a defense, or to initiate legal action.

Paralegal. Assist lawyers or judges by researching or preparing legal documents. May meet with clients or assist lawyers and judges in court.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Title Examiner Training

Herzing College - Madison, WI

Herzing College, 5218 E. Terrace Dr., Madison, WI 53718. Herzing College is a small college located in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a private for-profit school with primarily 4-year or above programs and has 2,085 students. Herzing College has an associate's degree program in Legal Assistant/Paralegal which graduated ten students in 2008.

Madison Area Technical College - Madison, WI

Madison Area Technical College, 3550 Anderson St, Madison, WI 53704. Madison Area Technical College is a large college located in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a public school with primarily 4-year or above programs and has 14,553 students. Madison Area Technical College has an associate's degree and a postbaccalaureate certificate program in Legal Assistant/Paralegal which graduated nine and fourteen students respectively in 2008.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin photo by Dori

Madison is situated in Dane County, Wisconsin. It has a population of over 231,916, which has grown by 11.5% in the past ten years. The cost of living index in Madison, 86, is well below the national average. New single-family homes in Madison are valued at $243,800 on average, which is near the state average. In 2008, one hundred forty-eight new homes were constructed in Madison, down from three hundred seventy-four the previous year.

The top three industries for women in Madison are educational services, health care, and finance and insurance. For men, it is educational services, professional, scientific, and technical services, and accommodation and food services. The average travel time to work is about 18 minutes. More than 48.2% of Madison residents have a bachelor's degree, which is higher than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 20.9%, is higher than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Madison is 5.2%, which is less than Wisconsin's average of 7.7%.

The percentage of Madison residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 52.5%, is more than the national average but less than the state average. Gates of Heaven Synagogue, Abundant Life Church and Grace Episcopal Church are some of the churches located in Madison. The most common religious groups are the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church.

Madison is home to the Allen Centennial Gardens and the Annie C Stewart Memorial Fountain as well as Bordner Park and Brigham Park. Shopping centers in the area include Brookwood Village Shopping Center, Whitney Square Shopping Center and Walnut Grove Shopping Center. Visitors to Madison can choose from Comfort Inn Madison, Howard Johnson-Plaza Hotel and Country Inn Sts Madison for temporary stays in the area.